Cumberland, Lincoln & Central Falls, Rhode Island
Paddling into Valley Falls Pond and Wetland we were greeted with a group of geese flying overhead which making a spectacular landing into the water. The osprey flew over for another visit and the quiet night was broken by the sound of bull frogs calling out to the beat of the Chinese dragon boat drum. As we paddled back up stream a canopy of Bugcatchers and other small birds flew overhead diving and darting around after their evening meal. One paddler said it best, "I've lived on the Blackstone all my life and I've heard about the improvement of the river, but it took a paddle in a kayak tonight to see how spectacular it is. It's not just the wildlife, that was special, but the plants, open sky, water and the peaceful pace that make up the river. I'm now hooked on kayaking and the Blackstone." Live the Experience!
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I've talked or written about our guided
trips a lot this year and the first Wednesday night in
August had to be one of the best. Leaving the store with
a group of eight, we entered the river from the BVO
portage. On previous Wednesday night paddles the wildlife
has been sparse, but tonight nature gave us a show that
couldn't be beat. First the group met up with our lone
mute swan, which had lost his mate this spring and now
cruises around with the kayakers. Entering the split cove
passed John Street we glided into two large rafts of
Canada geese that had a pair of mute swans as the their
guardians. Once the group was in the cove I started to
tell them of a funny story about a paddling trip and
geese when I stopped short. Quietly, I asked them to turn
around and there eating at the waters edge were two young
deer. The group sat there in silence for over 10 minutes
watching the deer. During this time a great blue heron
and an osprey flew by. With the silence broken by a
kingfisher diving into the water, we left the deer still
eating and continued on our trip.